Austin Texas, officially known as the live music capital of the world is famous for the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of Austin residents. So it comes as no suprise that Austin hosts not one but two tango festivals. This coming June, Austin will be holding its second Fiesta de Tango from June 4-7, 2009.

The festival boasts 75 hours of tango dancing fun with three levels of tango classes, and 6 milongas, one of them an all night one. This year’s tango instructors are going to be Diego Di Falco and Carolina Zokalski , Guillermo Merlo and Fernanda Ghi, and George Furlong and Jairelbhi Furlong all of whom are very prominent names in the tango world.

image by bethsoft.com

They are also very good at selecting the best tango music for every milonga and every lesson. So be ready to show of your tango shoes, the comme il fauts and the neotangos and whatever else you’ve got, as you learn to do the embelishments and the boleos and the fancy turns and 4 great nights of heavy duty tango dancing.

There are full festival passes ($385), three day passes ($295-$320) and day passes ($90 - $150) and separate milonga pasees available online. For more information, schedule of classes/milongas and for more detailed rates and other information check out their website.

Also, there are really cheap airfares available for austin right now (e.g. $205 for a round trip from New york to Austin), on various online air ticket booking sites. Check them out!

The Diva Tango Boutique, which has branches in Chicago, Buenos Aires and Clearwater, is participating in the 13th Miami Tango Festival with a big promise: They  will be bringing the largest collection of Comme il Faut shoese outside Buenos Aires (over 500 pair), their entire collection of Tara Shoes, men’s tango shoes, dancing sneakers, practice shoes and also clothing.

This might be the perfect opportunity to buy that illusive perfect pair of dancing shoes that you’ve been waiting for all these years. Comme Il Faut (means “As it should be”), which is my personal favorite, is one of the most reputed companies in the Tango Shoes business. The main selling point of Comme Il Faut shoes is that they are all Unique - No Comme Il Faut shoe is the same as any other.

Comme Il Faut

So, if you own a pair of these dancing shoes, you can rest assured that you will be the only one flaunting them on any dance floor anywhere in the world. Now, that’s something!

Tara tango shoes is a company with its own tango story to tell. It was started by a flat footed tango dancer in search of a elegant but equally comfortable pair of shoes. Their moto is “You shouldn’t have to suffer to feel beautiful!”.

The Women’s collection of tango shoes that will be available at the Miami Tango Fantasy can be checked out at www.diva-boutique.com. Men - you will have to just visit the store or the festival

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The United States Tango Congress, founded by Lydia Henson, is holding its 13th Annual Tango festival this memorial day weekend (May 21st to May 26th) on Miami Beach. This is the longest tango festival held anywhere outside Buenos Aires and promises to be an excellent treat for all the tango lovers. The prices are a bit high but you get 5 days packed with Tango lessons, Milongas, excellent performances from famous tangueros and brilliantly romantic evenings of tango dancing under the moonlight on the beach. The festival is going to be held in the Deauville Beach Resort on Collins Avenue. Here is the exact address:

Buy Now!

United States Tango Congress 13th Annual Tango Festival

Tango Fantasy 2009,

Deauville Beach Resort

6701 Collins Avenue,

Miami Beach

FL 33141.

Ph: 305-865-8511.

For registration, program schedules, list of tango performances, milongas etc visit www.tangofantasy.com.

Even the City of Coral Gables, which has managed to maintain its independent existence from Miami, vehemently protecting its own identity and structure from being infiltrated by outsiders, cannot protect itself from tango. Dianne Castro runs a Tango practica every Tuesday in the heart of Coral Gables, just three blocks north of the Miracle Mile at Shakra Relaxation oasis. 

I will make a more detailed post about the place with my thoughts about the kind of tango music, and the flavor of tango etc. as soon as I manage to go and experience dancing there myself, but for the time being here is the address and times and costs: 

Tango Practica “El Abrazo” with Dianne Castro

(and all of you)

Shakra Relaxation Oasis

271 Alhambra Circle, 

Coral Gables, FL  34145.

Ph: 305 - 975 - 7753.

The place is just three blocks north of Miracle mile, between Ponce De Leon Boulevard and Le Jeune Road. 

The guided practica runs from 8 PM to 10 PM and the cost is $15.

Although, famous for its coffee and notorious for its weather, Seattle is a city bustling with culture. For the tango lovers, this means that it has an extremely active and well developed tango culture and a big tango community. There is a tango event happening in Seattle every night of the week and on most days there are multiple options to choose from.

A very good friend of mine, who also happens to be an excellent tango dancer himself, was based there for two years and had a great time enjoying all the classes, milongas and practicas that Seattle has to offer. For the itinerant tanguero passing through Seattle, he highly recommends putting on your best pair of tango shoes the following :

You must go to

• Practicas at Century Ballroom on Tuesdays.
• Practicas in Dance Underground on Thursdays.

There’s also a milonga at Dance Underground on Saturdays which is cool.

The best place (online) to check out the scene is  http://allseattletango.com/

Thanks to Satyen for sharing this information with us.

If you are looking for tango instruction in seattle, I would highly recommend taking classes from James Fridgen. I attended his workshops at the Princeton Tango Festival in 2007 and I really liked his teaching style and the conceptual way to think about tango. He teaches at the 8th style school of tango.